Bungling gasfitter suspended

A Wanganui gasfitter has had his industry licence suspended after an inquiry by the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board.
The board said work performed by Paul Terence Grant in 2008 showed a "serious level of incompetence" that raised "significant" safety issues.
As well as suspending his gasfitters licence, the board also fined Grant $4000 and ordered him to pay $13,262 toward costs of the inquiry, held last month.
Until two years ago, Grant worked as a certified gasfitter for Rivercity Gas.  After he left that company he set up in business on his own, trading as Gas and Heating Services.
The complaints against Grant were lodged by Graham Hardie, who owns Rivercity Gas, and related to gasfitting installations carried out by Grant on five Wanganui properties between April and August 2008.
As a result, Mr Hardie said his company had been checking installations at 146 local properties.
A similar audit has been carried out by the board on more than 200 properties Grant had worked on in the  past two years. But a board spokesperson said that work had been inspected and met all the required standards, and did not pose a health risk to consumers.
At the board inquiry in Wellington last month a board investigator said Grant's conduct constituted "a serious level of incompetence and impropriety" in terms of the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Act 1976.
He said Grant's actions involved repeated breaches of industry standards "some of which raised significant safety issues". In one of the worst instances, a flue had melted and an air-intake was blocked.
Grant's counsel argued that, in four of the properties, the installations were in fact safe but non-compliant, but the board said Grant showed a "continual disregard" for the accepted standards.
It said he had repeatedly certified installations "without having safely met the recognised standards of safety laid down in regulations".
"This cavalier approach cannot be considered a legitimate one, and one which gives the board grave concern," the inquiry found.
Counsel argued for permanent name suppression on the grounds it would "almost certainly" cause the collapse of his business but the board decided there was a public safety interest in naming him.
However, while the investigator recommended deregistering Grant for a year, the board said that was too severe and gave Grant the opportunity to be rehabilitated.
He was ordered to undertake a course approved by the board and once that was completed his competency will be audited. If he reached appropriate levels of competency then the suspension  would be lifted and his gasfitter's licence re-issued.
Grant was given until August 10 to appeal the board decision but did not lodge one.
He told the Chronicle that "I wasn't in a very good space at the time" and was suffering severe depression.
"I've had to accept my shortcomings that the board found," he said.
Grant did the upskilling course the board demanded, and was notified this week that he had passed. There will be another competency audit before the board returns his gasfitter's licence.
"I was really going through a tough period in my life when this happened. I've been in the industry for 20 years and it's the only time something like this has happened," Grant said.
Mr Hardie would not tell the Chronicle how much the audit or repair work had cost his company, but said it was "significant".
"This is when you take into account time auditing, replacing faulty workmanship, and a considerable amount of man hours involved as well. It hasn't been easy," he said.
He they were about two-thirds of the way checking the installations Grant did when he worked for Rivercity Gas.
Mr Hardie told the Chronicle his firm became aware of possible problems after Grant left and the company  realised it was facing "a major problem".
 He launched an audit into the installations Grant had done and that meant checking 146 properties.
"If we find any problems then these are being repaired at our cost. My major concern is for the safety of the consumers."
In one of the worst - and costliest - cases Mr Hardie said the flue for the gas heater had actually melted and the air intake was also blocked.